Anger is a normal reaction to any number of life challenges. Injustice, disappointment, insult, injury, the general unfairness of things, having to deal with rude people, I could go on. But while anger is a normal reaction, holding onto it is basically always bad for us (I’m sure there are times it can be channeled… Continue reading Let It Go
“When you see ill in your friend, it is your own ill that you are observing.” -Baal Shem Tov Have you ever experienced the thing where someone really, really, really gets on your nerves, so much so that when they walk into a room your muscles tense up? And then you realize that the reason… Continue reading Take A Look At Yourself
He (Rabbi Tarfon) used to say: It is not your duty to finish the work, neither are you at liberty to neglect it. Pirkei Avos 2:16 Today I had planned to go out on my biweekly shopping trip. I’m doing my best to keep my shopping (and, indeed, all my going out of the house)… Continue reading One Thing At A Time
Every day is a new chance. Don’t get bogged down by the (probably long) list of things you wish you’d done, the times you wished you could’ve helped, or any other normal and understandable disappointments. These are strange times, and the kindnesses you may have been doing on the regular may not be an option… Continue reading Acts Of Kindness During Coronavirus Times
“Man should rather jump into a fiery furnace than offend another in public.” -Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai Today is Lag B’Omer. Bonfires, bows and arrows, music (MUSIC!), haircuts, weddings, celebration. This is the day that the students of Rabbi Akiva stopped dying in the plague. Today is the yahrzeit of the Rashbi, Rabbi Shimon Bar… Continue reading Rabbi Shimon’s Good Advice
טראַכטן גוט וועט זיין גוט This quote by the chassidic master Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch (1789–1866) is catchy, but I always found I had some pushback to it. Think good and it will be good? Isn’t that a little simplistic? A little unrealistic? Does it not deny the actual negative feelings and experiences a… Continue reading The Power Of Positive Thinking
“Im ein ani li, mi li? Aval im ani rak l’atzmi, ma ani?” “If I am not for me, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I?” -Hillel (Pirkei Avos 1:14) We all have own strengths, the things that come naturally to us, that we might even excel… Continue reading Being Your Own Advocate
Time waits for no man. Or woman. I’ve been acutely aware of the approach of a milestone birthday, watching it get closer, year after year. I’ve been so busy lately, what with the pandemic and all, that I found that my birthday is right around the corner. Forty days away, to be exact. Now, doesn’t… Continue reading Forty ’til I’m forty
This is the outline of what I said in my Live Broadcast on Instagram last night, after someone asked me to do a video on Pesach prep. First, there are tons of amazing resources online that are definitely more comprehensive than me, so check those out. Between Carpools has a downloadable guide, Ruchi Koval’s How… Continue reading Preparing For Pesach In The Time Of Corona
It’s less than a month before Pesach and instead of preparing for this exciting and labor-intensive holiday, I am preparing for some exciting and labor-intensive home-schooling. That’s right, school is out for at least the next five weeks, and my five kids are all home with me, and instead of buying matzah, I’m stocking up… Continue reading Silver Linings of COVID-19 Break
Rivki Silver ~ thoughts & music 